Lewis

C.S. LEWIS (1898-1963)

Clive Staples Lewis ("Jack" to his friends) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1898. As a boy, his brother Warren ("Warnie" to his friends) was his closest friend. Their father was a successful as an attorney, but did not connect at all with his sons. Their mother died when Jack was only nine and Jack and Warnie were left to manage on their own in their huge house on the outskirts of Belfast. Not long after the loss of his mother, Jack also lost his Christian faith.

"Little Lea," the Lewis family home on the outskirts of Belfast. (Click on picture for full-size version)

Lewis tells the story of his school years in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy. He attended a series of private schools--Wynard School, Hertforshire; Campbell College, Belfast; Cherbourg School, Malvern, Worchestershire; Malvern College--before studying with a private tutor in England. His tutor, W.T. Kirkpatrick, impressed upon Lewis the importance of clear thinking. As Lewis later said of his teacher, "He thought not about you, but about what you said." His work with Kirkpatrick proved successful and he was awarded a scholarship to Oxford University. Following a brief stint in the military in World War I, Lewis attended Oxford graduating with degrees in philosophy and literature in 1922.

From 1925 until 1954 Lewis taught Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford. During this period he also wrote extensively in the area of literary criticism. In 1929, Lewis became a theist and in 1931, he converted to Christianity.

Over the next thirty years wrote a number of books arguing for the basics of his faith--what he called "mere" Christianity. Lewis's work as a defender of the faith, or "apologist," earned him a great deal of noteriety. His book, Screwtape Letters, for example, earned him a place on the cover of Time magazine. During World War II he gave a series of radio addresses (later published as Mere Christianity) that made him the second most recognized voice in England--second only to Winston Churchill. Unfortunately, his fame made it impossible for him to get a promotion to professor. So in 1954 he accepted the invitation of Magdalene College, Cambridge to become their first Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature. Lewis was still on the faculty at Cambridge when he died on November 22, 1963--the same day that John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley died.

WRITINGS

Lewis's books divide into three broad groupings. First there are the works that represent "Lewis the literary critic," the competant professional in his field: The Allegory of Love (1936); The Personal Heresy (1939); A Preface to "Paradise Lost," (1942); Oxford History of English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (1954); Studies in Words (1960); An Experiment in Criticism (1961); and several others. Next there are those volumes which represent the "Lewis the fiction writer," the man with the creative imagination: The Narnia books; the science fiction trilogy; and others. Thirdly, there are the books from "Lewis the Christian apologist," the rational defender of the faith: The Problem of Pain (1940); Miracles (1947); Mere Christianity (1952); Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964) among them. Finally, there are those works that show "Lewis the radical critic of the modern age," the chief among them being The Abolition of Man (1943)

In The Abolition of Man, Lewis argues that ethical and aesthetic values are not merely subjective. Instead he claims there is a moral principle written into the fabric of the universe, the "tao" as he calls it, that is objective. Contrary to the existentialists and other who claim that "all things are lawful," Lewis argues that we all know right and wrong and all know we should follow it (though we often don't). The book ends with a compilation of quotations from civilizations throughout the world and throughout time exhibiting the tao by showing the similarity in their basic moral beliefs.

Click here for a tour of Lewis's Oxford